Awesome 80s Run 5K Race Report

Awesome 80s Run 5K Race Report

Disclosure: Chicco sent the Tre jogging stroller for me to review and

Last weekend, Spawn and I dressed up and headed out to the Rose Bowl for the Awesome 80s Run 5K! It was our first race with our new Chicco Tre jogging stroller, which is balls better than racing with our “traditional” stroller. We got in the spirit of things by dressing up as a boy and his extra-terrestrial. This lasted for about a half hour and then I had to take off my sweatshirt – it was too hot at 7:30am to wear a sweater!

Here’s what we did to decorate our Chicco Tre jogging stroller: We cut up a shopping basket and got rid of the bottom part. We bought velcro ties and attached the basket to the main rail of the stroller. (I had to figure out how to get the basket tied up high enough so Spawn didn’t scratch her legs with the cut-off part of the basket.) I printed a photo of ET and bought a few boxes of Reese’s Pieces to attach to the basket for a bit more flare. I borrowed The Wife’s red hoodie and wrapped Spawn up in her white Aden & Anais receiving blanket. (I also had a white hoodie for her but it was so hot and humid, she wasn’t going to wear that.)

Lucky for us, we ran into my colleague Anne who was racing with her little guy, Teddy! I got to meet Teddy and catch up with Anne.

The weather was humid but manageable. Until the rain.

Yes, rain. At first, it was a sprinkle and I thought, “hey we can deal. It’ll refresh us.” Then it started to pour. And of course, Baby Spawn was probably overwhelmed by the number of people around her and started to fuss. She fussed so much, I ended up wearing her the whole race. (Thank you, Ergobaby 360!!)

Where they’re going, they don’t need roads…

So I wore the baby and strolled the stroller. By the last mile, it was really pouring. I felt like a crappy mom for not bringing an umbrella or something waterproof for Spawn. (Then I got over it. Shit happens.)

A couple things I wanted to note while racing with the Chicco Tre jogging stroller:

• Easy to push – Having to wear the baby and push with one hand was hard but the Chicco Tre is very smooth. I’m going to credit the pneumatic tires (inflatable) for the smooth ride.
• Giant canopy – While Spawn wasn’t in the seat for long, I was able to use the giant canopy to cover her seat so it wouldn’t get wet, if/when I could get her back in the seat.
• Handbrake at the handle – This made things easier to stop and brake the stroller so I could bend down and grab the carrier quickly.
• Easy to fold in and out; easy to take off the front wheel – This made life easy for me because I usually only have one had available. (I did use both hands to pop the front wheel back in.)

Anne and I came in to the finish line at 01:01:00 – just over an hour! Not bad for wearing a baby for almost three miles, walking in the rain, pushing a stroller with one hand and carrying a conversation the whole time!

Overall this race was totally fun. (Get it?) We saw so many funny costumes – Back to the Future (Marty and Doc Brown), Ewoks, neon workout clothes, Caddyshack (!!), Rainbow Brite, to name a few.

I’d do this again – and dress up again! Return of the Jedi was released in 1983. I could dress Spawn up as R2-D2! Or maybe I could dress her in all black and decorate the stroller as the Death Star! Or she could be Indiana Jones and the stroller could be the train car that goes off-rail in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom! Or… she could be a part of the new Ghostbusters! Hmm… well, I have a year to think about this.

(Of course… Halloween is just around the corner! I’m already thinking about costumes for baby and decorating our Chicco Tre!)

Now that you’ve seen the fun we’ve had, despite the rain, will you consider joining me for next year’s Awesome 80s Run?? 

Disclosure: The team at Chicco provided us with the Tre jogging stroller. All opinions above are my own. Post contains affiliate links.